Logotyp: till Försvarshögskolans hemsida

The pervasive threat of disinformation poses a challenge to societal stability and security. By investigating articles produced by three Iranian state-owned media outlets through the method of reflexive thematic analysis, this thesis presents four themes which are perceived to produce harmful narratives against Sweden in the context of the Quran crisis: (i) Swedish police as a supporter of Quran burning, (ii) Swedish government as allowing and supporting Quran burnings, (iii) Sweden as controlled by the US/Israel, (iiii) Swedish democracy as flawed. By applying the lens of social identity theory to these identified themes, the thesis investigates the production and dissemination of narratives produced by Iranian state media, elucidating the detrimental impact on Swedish security. By focusing on the creation of narratives, this thesis contributes to existing research on disinformation and the connection between narratives and disinformation. It also contributes to the growing need for literature regarding Iranian disinformation which has not yet been studied in-depth.

The findings show, among other things, that the Swedish Government and police (outgroup) are perceived as enemies who constitute a threat to the survival of the Muslim community (ingroup). Swedish authorities are framed as hostile toward Iran, and the implication from Iranian leaders to act through a collective response regarding the desecration of the Quran. Further, the thesis suggests that there is a need to study the actors producing harmful narratives regarding Sweden and to study the Swedish identity within the disinformation phenomenon to gain better resilience against disinformation.